Olfactory Opinions from Oz

SOTD 5.11 – 11.11.2018

A SOTD (Scent Of The Day) thread is a really good conversation generator. The idea is you’ll chime in through the week with whatever scent you are wearing. You don’t need to be super knowledgable, have high faluting tastes or be a published author to comment. Just tell us what fragrance you’re wearing, smelling, buying etc. and how it makes you feel and/or anything else about it that tickles your fancy.

You can also comment on everyone else choices too. It’s great to tell someone how much you love their choice, ask for more info about it, the house or perfumer. There’s someone here from around the world 24/7 and perfume people love to chat.

SOTD 5.11 – 11.11.2018

You probably won’t have time to write every scent, every spritz but whenever you feel the mood take you share your current spritz and a few things about it. Maybe you love/loathe it, want it, are excited by the notes/bottle/SA who sold it: WHATEVER! As always here at APJ, taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

Ha! Honestly, I am not sure…because the vial just said Mandarine…Portia can perhaps answer the question. Whatever the case, it is gorgeous…the mandarine is there but also there is a creaminess….delicious!

Alright. Wearing vintage Arpege which I guess is a floral, according to the discussion on Saturday’s Question. But to me it’s an aldehyde. I claimed not to do well with florals, with the exception of Carnal Flower. So now how come I love Arpege as well? Am I a closet floral lover? I think not. I cannot bear perfumes like Amarige. My FIL always used to give me a bottle of Joy perfume at Christmas. The round black bottle with the red-tipped glass wand. I loved how it smelled, but not on me. Same with 1000, also by Patou. Enjoyed l’Air du Temps and Chamade as well, but not on me. Same with Diorissimo.
I really want to wear florals, but they always feel ‘wrong’ on me. But then could someone please explain why Carnal Flower works? And suggest to me more florals in a similar vein?

Arpege is an aldehydic floral same as No.5 or Fleurs de Rocaille, maybe it having a huge dose of aldehydes trumps the flowers? 🙂 I’m not familiar with Carnal Flower but it seems like a tuberose beast, some other tuberose-loaded scent could work for you. Cassie and Saffy, if I remember it right, like Mahora, pretty sure they’ve got some valuable suggestions for you.

Het Marcella,
The frigid gasoline smell in Carnal Flower makes it so much more than just a floral. Interesting that you don’t like Amarige which I also think of as an aldehydic floral.
Most fragrances have some flowers hidden in them somewhere, don’t sweat it. Wear what you love.
Portia xx

Yep, closet floral lover! Carnal Flower is what I would term a dense and chewy BWF. And as Diana said, Mahora is in a similar vein. It’s built on the Guerlainade base, very recognisably, but is richly floral with Ylang Ylang, jasmine and I think narcissus. And if you ever have a chance to test Neela Vermeire Pichola grab it with both hands. It’s simply stunning, beeootiful. Annick Goutal Tubereuse is also one to try. Though I have a notion that it may now be discontinued, sorry if that’s the case. I am a big Fracas fan but it is in a totally different ballpark to those above, and I put EL Tuberose Gardenia into the Fracas sub-genre of my own imagining.
P.S. I don’t like Amarige either.

Excellent scoop gang! Thank you all so much. Cassie, do I try the vintage or current Fracas? I hope you’ll say either/or cuz chasing after vintages is both immensely annoying and expensive. I will surely give these all a try. I love my collection but since the summer when I first tried Carnal Flower, I’ve been craving some other choices in a similar vein.

Well, this is Oudvember; so, it’s daily oud. Day 1 was Hexennacht Hexenhaus oil, Day 2 was Au Pays Neroli Oud, Day 3 was Atelier Oud Saphir, Day 4 was Lancome L’Autre Oud, and Day 5 is Yves Rocher Rose Oud. I’ve worn a few things in the eve to bed that aren’t oud. Last night was Annick Goutal Rose Absolue. Yes, I have more than 30 oud frags and won’t have a problem going the distance this month. Any other oud lovers out there?

Oops, unfortunately not Gina. I’m more of an oud avoider as Crikey fittingly put it. If “oud” is not mentioned in the name of the scent, the chances are greater that I will try it. So it happend that I’ve tried Hermessence Agar Ebene (agar didn’t ring the bell in my head) and it is an oud perfume I really liked.

More for me, Neva! 🙂 There are many beautiful ouds out there. I like the Middle Eastern ones but not those that smell like barnyard piss. I like rose/oud combos. But, I love rose! I have not tried Agar Ebene. Hermes last a breath on my skin. I love and own Twilly and a couple of others but they are like cologne.

Gina, what a lovely line up you have there. I’m an Oud lover. Writing down your list to look up later. I don’t have very many oud scents (I am working in it though) my favourite right now is L’artisan Al Oudh. I look forward to reading other oud scents you wear.

Not sure if I would classify myself as an oud lover but I do like pure agarwood essential oil and do have some ouds in my collection…Berdoues Oud al Sahraa and recently acquired decant of Atelier’s Rose Anonyme…I also really like Jo Malone Velvet Rose & Oud and Bergamot & Oud. and Portia’s sample win of Montale’s Aoud Amber Rose.

Tory Burch, by Tory Burch for me today. Finishing of my little sample. Lovely orange blossom, some musk, some jasmine and some sandalwood. Sure there’s some other florals in there. I’m rather enjoying it so let’s hope it lasts till at least lunch time!

I know this kind of weather and the feeling that goes with it Jyotsna. I hope the rain has started meanwhile and you feel better. Chergui and tea is a beautiful combination. I love tea and drink it a lot, especially now that is getting colder here.

I’m heading out for lunch today. It is Melbourne Cup Day ,but in Ballarat it isn’t a public holiday ,so all shops/ cafes ect remain open. The weather is cool and overcast, with sudden strong burts of rain occurring intermittently. In tribute to the horse race ,I was thinking of wearing my sample of Gently Jockey Club… but I can’t find it…sad face.
In stead I’ll go shower ,get dressed then choose my scent.
Will report soon.

Yesterday I had another dip into my antiques cupboard. After a discussion here a while a back, and the fact that I am seeing some evaporation, I have decided that I need to enjoy these more while I still can. So Monday I wore some vintage Guerlain Jicky that i found in a flea market, a total lavender bomb that lasted all day on me despite its age.

Today I’ll stay in my home office. Wearing Oliver & Co Vaninger. It was the one that made me order a sample set from Oliver & Co but in the end I was rather disappointed with it. Vaninger is very interesting – a huge portion of ginger and citrus on vanilla.

Well I ended up not going to Sweet Fern. I did spoil myself with a lovely lunch though. And sent a 2nd group of Christmas cards out. Before I left the house I applied some Burning Barbershop via a sample. I like it, but not enough to splash the cash.

Thanks all for your well wished yesterday. I literally passed out at 630pm and awoke at 4am. Feeling slightly better but still under the weather. Today will be a very busy day at work. Fortifying myself with the last of the Portia samples- Blanche Immortelle….beautiful.

Neva and Cassie- I have to say that the Ateliers have decent longevity on my scent devouring skin…there are many high end niche that cost much more and last a nano second (I am looking at you Hermessences)….also, I never pay retail for anything….the Ateliers are everywhere at the online discounters and could be bought for a fraction of the price. I happen to really like the brand and finally emptied my 6.8 oz bottle of Orange Sanguine.

And for leading you into temptation. Have a few glasses of post-dentist wine Cassie. Then go check out those bottles of Versace Blonde again. If you haven’t clicked buy, have some more wine and try again 😂

I got the winter tyres put on today, it’s going to be real cold here soon 😦 . As a weird tradition, I always wear something leathery when I go to the mechanics, this time I chose So French.
On the way home I dropped by the post office and got my package with Feminite du bois, as well as a big gift set of Noa Perle my friend had me order for her off of eBay. Even though the scent is discontinued, the set is brand new so obviously I couldn’t smell the perfume but my friend is over the Moon now.

Have you got ice and snow already, Diana? Was watching a programme last night, one of our TV presenters was on a visit to Tomsk and Novosibirsk and took a trip on Trans Siberian and on to Ulaanbaatar. Looks absolutely amazing but I dunno if I could cope with the frigid temps. You Russians are hardy folks is all I can say. Your friend got lucky with her Noa set. It’s a fab summer scent, I had it last year, but my daughter took a big liking to it so I passed it on to her.

Just so you know Cassie, Montreal gets more snow and more ultra-freezing days than Moscow. Yup, it’s true. And we are expecting 20cm snow next week and my snow tires are still not on! I better scurry off to the mechanic’s real soon 💨🌨🌨💨🌨🌨

Why do you think I go through my elaborate hardening-off process each fall? I’m tough now I tell ya. My skin has thickened and I could swear I’m growing fur. Well, at least on my upper lip. Oh yay. At least that won’t get cold 😏

Yes, Cassie, winters in Russia, – as well as in Canada and the north of America, I imagine, – are harsh. We’re enjoying the last days of sun: the temperatures are going to drop to + 5C as of next Monday. I went to university in Yaroslavl which is located 160 miles northeast of Moscow. I LOVED the city, its ancient architecture, the people but the climate there isn’t Diana-friendly at all. Even in the south we get at least two weeks of – 20 degrees Celsius every winter 😦

I do not have a SOT going to the mechanic’s, but it sounds like I should. What about Dzing! I get a nice leather from that one. Also need to get my winter tires on. We’re expecting 20cm next week here in Montreal. Does your traffic also slow to a grinding halt with the first snowstorm? We have a lot of very steep hills here and without fail the slackers who got caught with their pants down and don’t have their tires on go sliding backwards or get stuck going up 😬

Yes Marcella, it happens every time again. On the news they always say: the snow caught us off guard…as if they didn’t know it was going to snow in winter. I thought in other countries, especially the ones with a harsh winter, everyone is prepaired well. Ok, now I feel better 😉

Our cut-off for mandatory winter tires is Dec. 15 which, in my opinion, is a month too late. We generally get at least one major snowstorm in November and multiple ‘regular’ dumps of 5-8cm. At least the police are vigilant about handing out tickets when compliance is lacking. Our snow tires must all be sold with a logo indicating their suitability for winter use, so it’s easy for the cops to see if you’re breaking the law 👮‍♂️

I thought of Dzing! as my “visit-the-carservice” scent but still went with So French. There are always people who think that winter wouldn’t come this year and yet they go for a drive. Some of those (censored) indivividuals don’t ever change their tyres even when the roads are icy. We now have a law that specifically prohibits using summer tyres but as quite a few laws in Russia, it’s often neglected.

Spoke with hubby… says he’ll be home tomorrow.!!! So exciting!!! I’m going to cry… I don’t want to ,though, but I will because I’m a soppy dag. I’m going to be perfumeless today ,because I’m heading to Sweet Fern, then I plan of buying myself a lunch at the swanky Craig’s Royal Hotel, then heading home to do some more housework. Also Neva, I ‘lost’ your email.. it went to the junk area ,then when I tried to find it again it had disappeared. Would you mind trying again ,please?

Rain! Yes!
SOTD I tried Nest White Sandalwood (marketed as
mens fragrance). It smells of dead cardboard in a musty attic. Ghastly on me. I too want to cry but for different reasons than Saffy. Scrubber.

Temperature drop today, a full 10 degrees cooler than a few days ago. So it’s back to the winter collection, reaching for Amouage Memoir Man. I’m a bit over the incense bombs from this house, and I prefer this one for its greener opening, although it does dry down to incense later. I don’t think this lasts as well on my skin as a fragrance this expensive should, something that I don’t find with, say, Journey Man.

I love the house of Amouage for their classical style and longevity, of course. They have so many lovely women’s perfumes that I never came to try the men’s versions. Which ones would you recommend, except Journey Man?

Maybe that would be the right lavender for me. Lavender usually reminds me too much of the little bundles of dry flowers that people used to have in their closets. The smell was rather strong and I’m fed up with it ever since my younger days.

Different types of lavender smell different…Seville is very boozy to me…maillette is incredibly sweet…but lavender absolute is my absolute favorite…it’s just smooth and polished to my nose…I would suggest you try different types if you can as there might be one that appeals to you…I love em all!

Hey Jyotsna,
I love that even in the 1990s Donna Karan was bucking the trend and putting women in highly spiced woodsiness. It’s almost a caricature of a mens fragrance it’s so hyper masculine.It feels quite boozy to me also though that’s not i the notes, very dark rum cocktail.
My memory of it is far less over the top.
Portia xx

Is this still in production, P? And what about Black Cashmere? Did you get your sniff on that? Oh how I wish I could get my hot paws on an old bottle of it. They killed off most of their best frags, imho.

Received my St. Clair Scents sample pack yesterday. No time to really relax and try at my leisure so they’ll have to wait. Habanita for another sunless day. Unfortunately this just smells like a nice soap on me.

Thanks Cassie. It kinda sucks honestly. Missing my little one already, but I know I’ll get used to it. Mr. LaurelHardy…….well, can’t say I miss him yet 😂. He managed to strip the screws assembling an IKEA (of course 😡) bathroom cabinet 🙄. It is impossible to find replacement screws. They have to be ordered from IKEA cuz they’re a ‘custom design’. It will take five days to get them. Have I ever mentioned how much I loathe, hate and despise anything at all remotely connected to IKEA, including their MoFo screws?????

Hmmm I think you may have made a vague reference to it😉 Your Mr LaurelHardy sounds as if he needs to be banished far far away from any household jobs. Pour yourself a nice glass of whatever poisons you, kick off your hobnail boots, spray yourself lavishly with something warm and comfy and relax.

May as well take off the boots, nobody to kick anyhow. Trying out First Cut (St. Clair Scents. I believe Mrs. M is a fan girl Very beautiful but honestly I think I need something much more calming. Sedona Sweet Grass works, but I’m wanting Pour Un Homme. Actually just too damned tired to think straight. Having tea, but it should be scotch. But that will just make me fall asleep. I’m all over the map this evening 😒

SODE – Olympic Orchids Amber and Labdanum Bath Oil (thanks Portia 🙂 ) I took a bath, read a captivating book in the bathing tub until the water got pretty cold and now I’m continuing with the book, smelling great.

Sampling St. Clair Scents First Cut this evening and it’s beautiful. I’m getting sweetish hay over something greener and an occasional drifting of rose. But it’s the most realistic smelling rose I’ve ever smelled outside of a garden. Very impressed.

See? I told you you would like it!!! There is also lavender absolute in that one…and yes, hay and vanilla too…when Mr. Marzipan wears it for me (that is the only fragrance he agrees to wear because he knows it makes me frisky so win win for both of us) I go nutso….and one spray lasts foreeevvver on his skin…(he does NOT have scent eating skin like me)

btw, the Caron is still in the cart…but it’s there…I haven’t removed it….which means I will get it eventually…

meanwhile I am sampling Gris Clair for THE VERY FIRST TIME…..does anyone know if Gris Clair is similar to the Caron Pour Un Homme????…because to my nose it smells like sweet lavender and I assume the Caron is the same as Portia refers to it as “lavender lollies”….anywhoo my friend sent me a decant of this one as she says it is too masculine on her…on my skin it is sweet and delightful…I am going to wear it again tomorrow….

Brigitte, I wouldn’t say Gris Clair and Pour un homme are similar: on me GC starts as an iris-lavender combo which morphs into the woody notes with prominent amber presence whereas PUH is what it says it is: lots of lavender, a bunch of vanilla and some musk to keep them together. The one scent that really comes close to PUH is Boadicea the Victorious Exotic. I don’t think you’ll regret buying PUH, it’s the friendliest masculine fragrances ever made, and even though it seems simple, its scent is unique. Just get a smaller bottle 😉

And just so you know, Diana’s style (St Clair Scents) to me is extraordinarily similar to Laurie’s style (Sonoma Scent Studio) which is why I think I am so smitten. She mentioned that she might be coming out with larger bottles too which I am hoping because the little one I have given to Mr. M is almost half way done!

Listen..he refuses to wear any perfume…but he agrees to wear First Cut…I think the hay note reminds him of his teenage years when he used to work in the summer baling hay…and it doesn’t irritate his nose to wear it like some other mainstream or even oddball niche offerings…I think Diane uses a high percentage of naturals…whatever the case he likes it or rather tolerates it and he knows I LOVE it on him…so right now that bottle sits in his medicine cabinet…because God only knows I have enough of my own….and yes, we need to save it for those moments!!!!! I want my aromatherapy in the throws of passion!!!!!

And I forgot to say that my current e.o. project is homemade amber by adding two vanilla beans sliced horizontally into Eden’s labdanum oil…will let it marinate and will get back to y’all on how it is turning out…hopefully good 🙂

Woweee.. Tis Thursday. My baby is coming home soon. I have found your email , Neva…thank you. And yours ,also, Diana….wow those Russian addresses are long and very hard for me to pronounce!! I was woken from a deep sleep by my lawn mower…. I’ve not quite decided my fragrance for the reunion…Won’t reach higher than 14C, so I might wear Samsara, but not set in stone….. will report later.

Don’t get overwhelmed. I would suggest you pick up a few samples of notes that intrigue you or notes that challenge you. They also have themed sampler packs which are more cost effective (such as a lavender sampler pack or neroli/orange blossom sampler pack). any questions before you order just let me know. I have probably sampled well over 100 of their oils.

I will let you know how it turns out. You could always experiment yourself. Get the 10 % Labdanum and get a vanilla bean and just slice the vanilla on the top and plop it in…shake vigorously every day and give it a couple of weeks/month for the beans to settle into the oil.

Ha ! Diana, somehow I pictured you as a brunette…I have only recently become blonde again…for about three years I stopped dying my hair and it was white…so white it looked like bleached blonde…now I am reddish blonde, thanks to some hair dye.

Brigitte, my natural hair colour is light brown but no one really knows it 🙂 I used to be a brunette (a-la Dita von Teese), a redhead, plus there were experiments (scarlet red & raspberry red) and hair dye mishaps, but now I’m a platinum blonde.

So today I am wearing a scent called “Gregory”, which is something I made up at a perfume workshop that I got given as a birthday present. It has everything but the kitchen sink in it, but is mosty lemon and mint in the opening, vetiver and other woodsy middle notes and kinda cedar-amber whatsits as the base notes. To be honest, I’ve lost the list of notes and forget what’s in there; I’d probably describe it differently next time.

Santal 33 is a good idea for Bohemian Rhapsody. I’ll have to watch the movie as well. I really appreciate Freddie Mercury.
Marcella, I can imagine Freddie wearing plenty of patchouli that people used to wear in the seventies.

Atelier Cologne Rose Anonyme….gorgeous, long lasting and a great starter oud…and it sells for a song online…70 USD for 3.3 oz…I am fairly certain it is of EDP or at least EDT strength which would explain the longevity on my scent eating skin.

What? Oud? That’s it!!! I’ve tried so hard to like this scent – and always something felt wrong. It had this cold metallic smell that I did not enjoy. And I went through three samples. OMG, I’ve never realized it’s the oud until now…
I’m happy you like it and it lasts so good on your skin. There are very few Ateliers that manage to pass the longevity test in my book.

First Cut, St. Clair Scents. Beautiful. Reminds me of my FIL’s vast gardens in the Eastern Townships. They were surrounded by hay fields that were let out to a farmer to work and the paddocks for the horses that were completely ungroomed and replete with wildflowers. And yes, there is a stunning lavender as well that Mrs. Marzipan helped me pick out. This is a welcome hit of summer on another miserable, gray and drizzly November morning and will probably become my first full bottle purchase, hopefully in 2019 if I can hold out that long which is unlikely.

all kidding aside, if I had won that billion dollar jackpot I would be buying gallons of First Cut…and everyone on APJ would be getting a bottle from me….yeah, it’s THAT good!!!! And meanwhile none of the St Clair Scents are even showing up on fragrantica!!!

Lolita lempicka Sweet, which was totally a blind buy for the bottle- I wanted the red version of the Apple bottle. It’s not bad – Anne Flipo – not as sweet as you might expect. “Cherry cocoa lipgloss accord” is fairly accurate for the opening, then it goes into some florals and musk. I don’t wear often but I love the bottle. I noticed on LL’s Instagram that the newer bottles are all faceted and not as interesting. (Not that I could find them anywhere locally anyway!)

Finished to-ing and fro-ing for the day. All boxes unpacked. The despicable Musc Ravageur is on board while I wait for yet another delivery. Not taking chances with MR. I might be the angel of death as well.

You know, tonight at work I had the best bitchin’ session with one of my colleagues who I have been working with for the past 23 years. We’ve had a tough couple of weeks and were venting to each other. We came to the conclusion that staff morale is low at the moment because of recent incidents so dammit, tomorrow I’m going to suggest we have a full staff meeting to send management a message. It is at this time of year when we are all working with one solitary nerve left😉

Keep that nerve intact Cassie. Generally speaking it seems that management behaviours/decisions have deteriorated drastically across the board in numerous sectors. Low morale is becoming the norm. Amongst my friends and contacts there appears to be a collective sense that management just does not give a $hit. Egos and the bottom line apparently count for more than the well-being of employees. This makes my head spin. It should be obvious to these management morons that happy employees who feel appreciated and valued are more productive employees. It’s a no-brainer. 🤓 Now class, let’s draw a parallel in the perfume industry. Loosen your purse strings Mr. and Mrs. Management. Encourage your ‘noses’ to use materials of their choice so that they a) can produce perfumes that are unique and b) can therefore derive some joy and satisfaction in exercising fully their creativity. Quit with the boring, derivative ‘brief’. Quit with the reformulations. Quit with the discontinuations. And bloody hell, quit with the exploitative pricing strategy. Oops, this was supposed to be about you, not me 🤭 Good luck at the meeting. Stir the pot! Sling some $hit! Mobilize the forces!

Well now, had a productive morning. There have been ongoing niggles with our new system here, and we are getting someone to come in on Tuesday to iron out these niggles. Ha, you should see the ‘shit list’. It isn’t the board of management that’s causing the problems, more their lack of acknowledgement of difficulties us folk on the ground are having. They haven’t got one iota of what happens here day-to-day, they just show up for monthly meetings and times when the press are here taking photos. The general manager is swamped with her own work and doesn’t really understand because she’s not dealing with ‘the public’ very much. I’m not one to keep my mouth shut when something is bothering me, because if I were to do that i think I’d explode. So if anyone ever asks me how things are going, I tell them straight. It’s probably the seasonal grumps with us as well as end of year lack of patience for any more crap. Phewww.

Ahhh! Feeling a bit better, Cassie? I hope so. Guess it’s more a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. And yes, this weather can make us all a bit grumpy and negative. It takes quite a bit of getting used to especially after the glorious summer we had.

Burrowing back into the antiques cupboard I pulled out a fragrance I reviewed here a while ago: A Gentleman’s Cologne, by Chanel. This is Chanel Pour Monsieur packaged up and sold in the English-speaking market during the 1960s, so it’s about 50 years old. It still has a nice colour, much the same as the modern juice, but the top notes have long since gone. It is now a mild spicy scent, with cardamom and ginger dominating. Not turned yet, and quite wearable still.

It’s not strictly speaking a cologne; in the sense of strength it might actually be an EdT. Using the word “cologne” was just branding for the US, I think. No opening notes and bugger-all longevity, but it is still wearable. Pure dumb luck I guess, I bought a Pour Monsieur bottle in the same lot that is about 20 years younger, and it has gone seriously bad.

Chanel Bel Repriso. It’s the one exclusif I never cared to try. I’m a such a dope.

This is silt and brine and lotus stems in the spring rain in coastal India. (I’m pretty sure none of those are the actual accords). There is something so beautiful here, I cannot even begin to explain. Perfect for today, green, Spring but sadly un-rainy.

Bel Respiro is my complete favorite of the exclusifs line. It really is a ‘beautiful breath’! Although I will admit to several other loves as well. Coromandel, 31 rue Cambon……gosh, wish I had full bottles of all of them. In this case I say projection and longevity be damned. Too beautiful for words.

I’m home alone so have pizza, wine, tunes, recipe books and perfume! Ameer Al Oudh by Lattafa left arm, L Fursan right side. Ameer is lovely, bit soft. More vanilla than oud. Might make a good base for layering. Right side reminds me of Mancera Roses Vanilla – it’s delicious. And much more affordable. Has that Montale Honey oud style. Yum yum pigs bum as our dear Portia would say 😉😍🍷🍕

I can still smell my Stash, after applying it 10 hours ago, and doing my work. Hubby wore Coromandal to his work because I could smell it on him as I kissed him good bye. I have also applied a drop of De Profundis because I feel terribly sad.. a possible terrorist event took place in Melbourne.

Cassie, what are you doing, you devil woman (C) ?! Every time you mention Magie Noire I pretend I haven’t seen those words and thus I don’t have to go searching for it on eBay and coming back with nothing.
I’ve read that modern formula is far from true magic but does it bear any resemblance with the vintage?

😈hee hee, I know, I’m a meanie. But I was waiting for a few years to hit on my little bottle of perfection, so don’t give up the search! I was incredibly lucky with this one, virtually no deterioration and it’s been going today for over 12 hours. Don’t waste your time or money on the new version, it’s anaemic and missing its balls😉

First Cut again because I still need to be reminded of summer. This is the second of two little samples that I ordered. It’s kind of making me nervous that it’s almost gone. I should probably order a full bottle and pretend that this hideous, continuous day after day grey weather is not really happening. It is seriously grating in my nerves 😬

After a lovely day yesterday that saw myself and four-legs power walking along the canal bank today has done a complete 360 with deluges of rain, and gusts of wind to drive it right slap bang into your face. Did I ever mention that I hate winter? No? Well I DO. I’d share my nerve with you but I’ve only got one left.

Ugh. I know. It’s soul-destroying, isn’t it? At least come December the snow lightens the general atmosphere. And when it starts to get really cold (-15/-20ish) it’s too cold to precipitate so the skies are usually blue. It’s just November and March that are truly gloomy and disgusting.

That is such a pain 😖Do you have a snowblower at least? I figure if you have the mechanical horse, you must have a mechanical snow-eater. Are the cars in the garage?
We have a ‘guy’ who does snow removal. My husband is never here all winter and I got fed up doing it when he’s away.

OMG, has anyone seen the Advent Calender from Atelier Cologne??? 24 samples of colognes, body products, soaps, even a travel spray – for 59 USD! There’s also a luxury version for 350 USD. I’m afraid even to look at it…
This inspired me to wear something from Atelier Cologne so I emptied a sample vial of pure lime joy to chase away the grey skies – Cedrat Envirant.

I can understand your use of the Cedrat. I’ve been needing florals,(except I claim to be a floral avoider, but I am obviously not), lavender and that sort of stuff. Oh! I think I’ll wear PG Arabian Horse later. Smells like galloping through summer meadows surrounded by hay fields. Either First Cut or Arabian Horse will be getting my full bottle nod next month.

So I looked 😳. One reviewer said there are not as many perfumes as previous years. Leaning more on the bath and body products this year. I chose to interpret that as a negative comment which made it (relatively) easy not to buy. Besides, I’ve tried some Ateliers and while they’re nice and the advent calendar is totally cute, I guess I can convince myself to resist. Maybe I’ll go to a Patisserie and pick up a few advent calendars filled with some rich, decadent European chocolates instead and give them to my daughters. When I was young my parents always bought filled chocolate balls wrapped in Christmas-themed foil from Europe. They had gold string loops and we decorated the tree with them. And yeah, the tree always looked a little sparser come Christmas Eve. I haven’t seen them for many years.

I love the idea of getting the bath stuff Marcella. Perfect for travelling. That’s what made it even more interesting to me. It’s always so nice to have little glam branded products in my on board wet pack.
Portia x

Tried Cornaline by Anatole Lebreton yesterday evening. The top notes were very shrill on my skin and sort of ruined the experience. Not really anything in the notes list that I would avoid at all costs, but still not a hit with me. However, have heard good things about other perfumes by Lebreton, so will keep looking for samples.

Not the best day today. Stayed home with a migraine, just had to sleep it off since it had come too far by the time I woke, so tripatans didn’t help much. Tried Le Labo Tonka 25 in the evening. This is a good one, but I think I still prefer the Fève Délicieuse from Dior. That is a bit of a relief, since the smaller Le Labo bottles are so downright expensive. I can see it says Dior reformulated Fève Délicieuse , my samples are all from 2016 and 2017. Have any of you done a side by side comparison of the different versions?

Ugh, migraines…I have never experienced them but some friends really suffer from them for years so I know the development. I hope you’re better by now and no, I have not tried FD from Dior so I can’t help.

Bad news on the migraine Ingeborg. I only had one in my life. The night before my wedding 🤨. I still remember it. I had to lie down motionless in the complete dark with all sound/noise off. It didn’t last long, but, Lord it was horrible.

One does get used to migraine, in a way. And medication is better than it used to be, so there’s that. Thankfully I have the weekend to relax. Didn’t make it to the post office on Saturday, so still havent picked up the samples I ordered from Germany. Also have some packages to mail out to pen friends and online friends so need to og there on Monday afternoon.

Spent the afternoon at City Perfume with TinaG. We smelled SO MUCH PERFUME. we helped customers, made some videos, tried everything and generally had a fabulous time. I now smell like a perfume store.
SOTD: EVERYTHING!!!!

Home from work…. went to give hubby a hug.. he recoiled and said ..you stink lol…which I already knew. Into a hot shower using the Nantucket Briar shower gel. Now I’ve just thunked a 2ml sample of Erawan by Dustia

Neva, I’ve tried all but Fleur de Lalita and Erawan, thanks to Val the Cookie Queen. They all are superb: each scent sounds like a statement of the perfumer, but Pissara’s respect for some of the great vintage perfumes: I wouldn’t be the first to draw a parallel between Le Sillage Blanc and a Germaine Cellier’s masterpiece, Bandit. Melodie de l’amour reminds me of Joy de Patou but is a bit more cheerful. I’d love to have them all, but if I had to choose, I’d buy the pine-needle chypre Issara and Oudh Infini which to me is the smell of warm sunlit tree bark. Douceur de Siam is big fruity/floral bouquet: I detect ylang-ylang, rose and vanilla/sandalwood in the basenotes but really, it smells like a summer morning.

I smell at least a dozen perfumes again: I’m going through my perfume drawers trying to weed out the perfumes I don’t actually need anymore. So far I’ve decided that I’m going to have to let my bottle of Nuit de Noel. I feel that I ought to try harder than that but then again, I don’t want to have any regrets afterwards.

Good point, Brigitte, thanks for the advice. The thing with NdN is, I’ve had this bottle (30 ml! it’s not even that big) for five years and it’s still got at least 20 ml. It needs a new home (LOL, I accidentally typed “homme”. Why not, it’s not feminine).

Erawan is pretty. however I’m still in lust with Fleur de Lalita. I also have a sample of Issara and Oud Infini, which I will try next week. I woke at about 3AM after a bad dream and applied some Opus X, and promptly went back to sleep. When I woke a few hours later, I was ‘hit’ with an ‘ oudy rose ‘. I didn’t like it. Will be showering soon, so I can get public ready and head into the pits. I will wear, and thunk my sample of Chanel Sycamore.
I wish everyone a peaceful Remembrance/ Armistice Day.

Right now testing Terre d”hermes on one wrist and L for Women on the other. Both nice but very different. TdH is really versatile…this would make a great grab and go scent…I can see why Evan drained 300 ml of this one.

I was just testing the TdH so I only did one spray in the evening….when I wear it for real I am going to do many sprays and I will let you know of its longevity…although not too many things read strong or last long on my skin…and yes, it is the Clive Christian one..I have a mini bottle of it.

Reading A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny enveloped in an enormous cloud of vintage Arpege this evening. The wind is howling and crazy wild outside. This novel takes place in Montreal (where I currently live) and the Eastern Townships (about a 1.5 hour drive south and east of Montreal and where I used to live). An engaging, well-written murder case that is very faithful and accurate in describing the local environs. A fun and entertaining read.

Love Louise Penny….Binge read the entire Inspector Gamache (sp??) series one summer. I think it was Hajusuuri who recommended it to me. maybe I should re-read it again now that I know someone who used to live there 🙂

btw, we got sleet on and off yesterday so no yardwork for me…however, it will commence today 😦

Gamache! Quite right! And it’s a wonderful depiction of the Townships. Gentle, calm, civilized and beautifully pastoral.
Surely it’s time to put the horsie mower out to pasture for the season? You’re overworking that poor beast.

Cassie we have a crappy yard too…no more bushes or flowers or anything…we ripped everything out…the only thing we do now is mow the lawn…my girlfriend asks me where all my energy comes from…I told her we have no choice..it’s the life of a homeowner…I told her I need a groundskeeper!

Fort & Manle Suleyman Le Magnifique. Sweet powdery cinnamon slightly rosy incense. Smells of a sweet shop in India that I used to go to. I have smelt many like it before but not so pretty in the opening.

Having trouble sleeping, so decided to report on scents worn Saturday. First, tried for the second time Aqua Profumata Salina from Tocca. The freesia note is clear to my nose, otherwise this is a light floral with some citrus. Supposed to evoke summer in Italy, I think. Nice enough, but I can see why I didn’t finish the sample at the time it arrived, not so evocative for me.

I’m testing Madagascan Jasmine from Grandiflora. This one is sooo good, possibly better than Dior’s Grand Bal. Madegascan Jasmine reminds me of Enlèvement au Sérail, but the latter had more rose mixed in, didn’t it? Anyway, must try more from Grandiflora! Or try to get a decant of this, it is not something I would have a lot of use for, but I love this jasmine.

I looked the notes up on Fragantica, and i’s supposed to be only green notes and jasmine. But commenters say Madegascan Jasmine is not technically a jasmine flower, they call it stephanotis which I would not know what is. Also, some see the perfume as clean rather than indolic, so I guess you should try before buying a larger quantity. No trace of vanilla or any gourmand notes and at the same time not much trace of anything very green.

oh I missed the boat on Amber Nude and after I’d fallen for it, I found it had disappeared. A real regret.
I’m heading to bed soon. a tres stressful shift… this company wants blood out of a stone…. anyway days off now. SOTSleep Sweet Oriental Dream.

Yesterday SOT workplace followed by night out with friends was Superstitious. A huge hit with my friend’s hubby. He thought it was fabulous and kept asking what it was called. Helen may be seeing this in her future.

Marcella- yes. I was nervously waiting for Cassieflower to post her top five scents. Prayed and offered sweets to all three hundred million of my gods and goddesses that she and I would have zero overlaps! Phew!
Rough, rough night.

OK done with the mowing…post shower testing Le Labo The Noir 29…and while I have always boycotted this company for the snobby SAs that ignore me in the city and for the exorbitantly high prices and exclusivity I rather like this one…it reminds me a bit of the discontinued Jo Malone Wild Fig & Cassis, which was a quirky little number that seemed out of place in the Jo Malone lineup.

OMG! Those stupid SA’s! Don’t get me started!! They’re just a bunch overly made-up, overly (and badly) dressed minimum wage earners living in a crappy apartment somewhere. And half of them don’t know the difference between a dry-down a rub-down and a dryer.😈

Just put on the last drops from a large sample of Jardin du Poete. This is delightful and a real change from all my citrus fragrances. Herbal, green and still easy to wear. Too bad it doesn’t come in smaller bottles.

I’m not being deliberately silly here, but do you really call it Evelyn and Crabtree? We’ve always referred to it as Crabtree and Evelyn. Not that it matters, but very curious. The C&E soaps are the only ones my husband will use. Since about 1980. He’s a loyal fan.

I have adored Crabtree / Evelyn possibly as long as your husband. I’m curious did you ever buy him their Mysore Sandalwood range? I miss many of their original ranges ie Gardenia, Sienna, Nomad Vanilla

Tiger’s Nest from the PPP. When I first tried this I thought I was smelling a fairly straight on Amber. But wait! I got it today. Incense. This is all about incense with just a touch of amber. Some time ago I was complaining that I had never tried an incense fragrance. This has been corrected, thanks to Portia and his Perfect Perfume Pressies. Consider me an incense fan. It’s beautiful.

Overnight I have applied 3 different scents. I had a restless sleep…. His Highness kept rolling onto his back, and would immediately snore, which woke me up. Grrr. Before bed I sprayed EA Green Tea, later in the morning {about 2AM} it was L’Occitaine Cherry Blossom and the third, {around 6AM} it was Stella Summer Rose. When I shower soon, I will wear something not quite as ‘delicate’ as these 3.

I know , I know…. hehehe. Hubby did apologize. To smooth my frazzled nerves, he took me to lunch and then we went shopping for the ingredients for our dinner; delicious oven baked salmon…. Soooooooooooo yummy. I wore Night Blooming Jasmine by Floris during the day, and in the evening Theorema. Wednesday morning has arrived and I had a great sleep, so I’m full of vim and vigour!!! Wearing, and thunking a small decant of something named Ombre de Hyacinth… sweet fresh and I have no clue who makes it or from where this sample arrived lol
p.s it turns out that I do indeed have an OUD based perfume in my collection!! And it is a love. So much that I actually have a back up 30ml bottle!!! Guess ya wanna know , eh? A clue.. discontinued.